Improvement in game-boards



UNITED STATES PATENT i IMPROVEMENT IN GAME-BOARDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 166,198, dated-August 3, 1875 application filed June 16, 1875. i

`To all whom it may concern Beit known that. I, IsAAo N. FoRREsTEa, of Baltimore city, Maryland, have invented a certain new and useful Gameand Bed or Table therefor, of which the following is a specifica- -tion My invention relates to a game, which I designate turnocyclef played with balls and cues, such as are used in playing billiards, or with balls and mallets, such as are used in the game of croquet, in which it is the object of each player to cause a ball, by a number of shots or plays, to traverse an irregular track or path, and thus. progress, shot by shot, over and around the surface of a bed or table; and my invention consists 4in arranging upon a smooth, dat surface, such as a door or a level piece of ground, or upon a table, bed, or board, in the path in which it is the object of the players to cause the balls to travel, a number of ballguides or controlling surfaces, each of which is bent or curved in the arc of a circle, or` thereabout, soas to give to the balls the desired direction of movement when properly shot or played against its bent or curved ver-A tical surface, and leave it, when it ceases to roll, in position for the Asucoeedin g shot against the next guide.

My invention also consists in the combination, with the series of ball guides or control- Iers, of a series of directing pins or posts arranged in pairs between the guides on each' side of the path or line traveled by the ball, when properly struck or shot, between which pins or posts the ball is shot or played in its l passage from one guide to another, thus enabling the player to propel the ball in the proper direction.

My invention further consists in combining,

with a curved ball guide or controller, a pin or post, between which and the guide the ball passes, by which the player is enabled to gage or estimate his shot, and properlydirect the ball.

In the accompanying drawings, which show one way of carrying out my invention, Figure 1 is a plan View, the arrows representing the path or line of travel of the ball, and Fig. 2 a vertical section on the line m x of Fig. l.

A board, A, or, if desired, a table supported on legs, preferably rectangular, as shown, al-

the boa-rd.

though it may bemade oval or of other formv to suit the taste, has arranged over its surface a number of guides or controllers, by preference made of material inelastic, or nearly so, such as -metal,`wood, hard rubber, Sto., and having curved or centrallydepressed sides or .vertical faces; in this instance ten such guides, B B G C D E F G H I, are shown, the guides B B C C', which have theirI outer surfaces or faces' concave, being centrally located on the bed or board, and the remaining guides having their inner surfaces concave. being arranged around this central group at intervals some dist-ance from it toward the edge or margin of I prefer to place a gaging-pin, in front of each guide, as shown, at such distance from the guide as to leave room for the ball to pass inside of the pin and follow the v surface of the guide, if properly directed by the player. These pins J, it will be observed, are so arranged relatively to the guides a; to require care on the part of the player indireeting the ball so as to pass free of the pin, and still strike the guide and follow along its surface, instead of bounding back or glancing off at the corner. Directing-pins K K may be arranged in pairs, one in each pair on either side ofthe path or proper line of travel of the ball, between the guides. The board or table is, by preference, provided with a ledge, a, around its edge like an ordinary billiard-table, and with side and end cushions b c. These cushions may either be made as shown, or inthe form of the billiardtable cushions in general use, with sidewise or inwardly projecting upper edges and inclined faces. The board thus constructed may be supported firmly by legs, or simply placed, when in use, upon a stand, table, or other support. When legs are dispensed with I prefer to make the board double, or with two faces, that, A, before described, and another, A1, on the opposite side of the board or frame. The partition or double bed A2 between the two boards may be made in suitable manner of any of the ordinary compositions or materials of which the beds of billiard-tables are made, or may be simply of wood or metal, with a covering of cloth, as shown. The board A.I is provided with cushions c' b', like those of the boa-rd A, beforedescribed. By this construc- Errea inclusive.

tion either turno-cycle or billiards may be played, as desired, on the combined board,

simply by adjusting the board with the side it is desired to use uppermost.

Turno-cycle may be played in various ways, the construction of the board admitting of many modifications in the game. One method of playing the game, which may consist of twenty points, is as follows: The ball is spotted, as shown at L, and the first player, with a cue, shoots the ball so as to pass between the guide B and pin J, and along toward the guide G, in a path or course shown by the arrows, making a single shot, counting one; or, if the player is an expert, the ball may be sent, by a single stroke, past the guide G, between it and its pin J, thus making a double shot, counting four, instead of two, as would be scored were two single shots made. [t is possible to make a triple shot, counting six, instead of one double shot. After passing G the ball should be shot past C, then between the directing-pins K K', then past H, then back between the pins K K', then past C again, thence past I, next past B', then against a pin, M, then past B' toward D, and so on until after passing between lB and its pin J, at which point the first shot was lnade. The final shot follows, which consists in striking the pin N. The shots are numbered fromv one to twenty In playing the game this way the players may use the same ball, each player commencing in his turn at the point where he missed, or different balls maybe used; and it may be legitimate for one player to shoot at,

his opponents ball, to drive it intoa position rendering it difficult for him in his turn to make his shot. It is possible, it will be seen, for a skillful player to run the game out in ten or even fewer shots, the game, if made in ten double shots, being ended with the ball at or beyond ten.

By arranging the guides over the bed or table, as shown, it will be seen that an irregular circuitous ball path or track of considerable length may be securedwithin narrow limits, while leaving sufficient space between the guides, and between the guides and pins K K', for the formation with the hand of a bridge7 or support for the eue while making each shot of the number necessary to finish the game.

This game may be played upon a level piece of ground with mallets like those used in croquet, it only being necessary to provide the guides or detlecting-controllers, gaging-pins, directing-pins, and pins lll N, or such of these parts as desired, with posts or stakesV to drive into the ground.

It is obvious that the degree of curvature of the guides, as well as their number and location, may be varied considerably without departing from the spirit 0f my invention, and that the deflecting-guides, instead of being curved in the arc of a circle, may vary somewhat therefrom.

'lhe boards or tables may be made of any size desired, from small'or toy size to large billiard-table size.

My invention gives to playersy the choice of quite a number of different ways or methods of. playing, thus preventing the dislike to games of a somewhat similar kind caused by the monotony of always playing the same way or game, and enabling the players to select the method most suitable to their tastes or skill, the simplest suitable for beginners being that before described of making single shots, while.

practiced or expert players may adopt a rule that only double or triple shots shall count; that the ball shall stop at certain points or within specitied limits after each shot, or make other changes in the game to suit them.

I claim as my inventionl. The arrangement, upon the board or bed over which a ball is played, as hereinbet'ore set forth, of the central group of curved guides, having concave outer faces, and the outer or marginal guides, having concave inner faces located at intervals around said central group, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a game board or bed, the curved guides D E F G H- I, arranged relatively to each other, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the guides C H, of the directing-pins K K', arranged upon the bed or board, as set forth, to guide the ball in its passage between the concave faces of the guides.

4. The combination of the curved ballguides and the gaging-pins J, arranged upon the bed or board relatively to each other, as set forth, whereby the ball is caused to follow the concave surface of the guide against which it is played inside` of and around the pin.

In testimony' whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. y

ISAAC N. FORRESTER.

Witnesses: l

AUGUsTUs HOFFMAN, UPTON SCOTT. 

